Coop's Corner: Running Again

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Running Again

We woke to 52F degrees this morning and it has stayed that mild all day long. The deer hunters were here early and it's a good thing. By mid-day, they never would have been able to drive in the harvested bean fields to gather their harvest. Our snow is gone except for the piles I created with the Plow Truck. Everywhere else we have either deep mud or ice and in many places, both conditions seem to exist.

That meant it made my test ride today rather challenging. I still have to install the side covers and front radiator cover on the other side. Today's most difficult task was purging the air from the coolant system and that really wasn't a very big problem.

Saturday morning I finished replacing the clutch cover, taking care with the gasket this time to make sure it stayed in place. New oil, new anti-freeze were added and all related was buttoned up. The lift was lowered so that the carb was at eye level while on my shop stool and that was wiggled out. Getting access to the carb was almost more work than removing the lower engine covers.

After stripping the carb parts down, it was into the ultrasonic cleaner for an extensive, hot water bath. New pilot and main jet (thanks HandKPhil!) were installed this morning after more bathing again today. Carb put back together and installed on the bike and once the hunters were done outside, the Baby KLR was rolled outside for the big start.

Ben has really been the only other person that has witnessed the impossibly tough starting of this bike when cold. I was confident enough today to have him around to verify the improved starting but he was far too busy doing something else so you'll have to take my word for it.

Fired on the 4th kick after having a dry float bowl and ran on the 5th kick...... and KEPT running. Only Ben and I know how nicely different that is; for more than one of our rides he got sweaty watching me work at keeping the KLR alive after rolling it out of the garage. The biggest news is that it didn't take 20 false starts (40 kicks) to finally keep it running. The choke/enrichener worked like they are supposed to....a minute of fast idle, back the lever off a bit to slow the idle down and a minute or so later, lever back to "Run" position.

With the radiator cap off, it took a bit for the air bubbles to stop and after adding small amounts of sweet green the level finally settled down. I had the chance for the first time to see that the electric fan does indeed kick in, I'm going to assume that it did so at the proper time. Finally the radiator cap was replaced and some more riding. No more than 5 miles today and up to 60mph once on the pavement but we'll have to make sure next spring that the jetting is where it needs to be under load.

No leaks and an absolutely necessary improvement in cold starting.....a very nice way to ease out of winter next spring. I'm not sure which one is next in line for some warm time in the shop but there's no time to waste, spring will here before I'm ready for it.

12 comments:

VStar LadyNovember 23, 2014 at 8:33 PM
We also woke to unusually warm temperatures, a spring day in November. I was amazed at how so much snow could disappear overnight. Glad you got to test out your KLR (nice colours by the way.) 4 kicks (I remember those days) compared to 40 and no leaks ... BONUS.
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RichardMNovember 23, 2014 at 9:11 PM
40 kicks to start! I think it would've found a new owner long ago with me...
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TrobairitzNovember 24, 2014 at 8:52 AM
It lives!!!!

Glad it is easier to kick start. When you have to kick more than a few times it has a tendency to take the fun out of it.
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SonjaMNovember 24, 2014 at 11:27 AM
Kick start after the 4th kick? Sounds like a healthy bike.
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DebNovember 27, 2014 at 10:49 AM
Vroooomm!

Looks good and glad you got to sneak a ride in!
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"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

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The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

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When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

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When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

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"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

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